Competition
by patricia51
Summary: Natasha has always been sure she's just as good as any other woman and better than most when it comes to catching men. But she never thought her competition would be from another world. And worst of all this spectacular woman seems to have her sights set on Steve. We'll just see about THAT! SteveXNat. Takes place after "My Turn Now".


Competition by patricia51

(Natasha has always been sure she's just as good as any other woman and better than most when it comes to catching men. But she never thought her competition would be from another world. And worst of all this spectacular woman seems to have her sights set on Steve. We'll just see about THAT! SteveXNat. Takes place after "My Turn Now".)

"Natasha, stop it," murmured a soft friendly voice in her ear.

"What?" demanded the former assassin, ex-SHIELD agent and current Avenger.

"If you grind your teeth any harder you're going to start breaking them," advised the same voice.

Natasha tore her gaze from the couple she had been staring at and looked at her friend, not even trying to pretend that she had no idea what the other woman meant. "Oh God is it that bad?"

Pepper Potts nodded. "And if you could shoot laser beams out of your eyes she," Pepper tilted her head to indicate the tall raven haired female who was the distaff half of the couple that was driving Nat up the wall, "she would already be dust and you would have to explain to Thor why you reduced another Asgardian to ashes."

Natasha tried feebly to deny that she had any such intentions or feelings. A silvery laugh floated across the room, interrupting her denials and she glared again as the tall woman touched Steve Roger's arm in appreciation of whatever supposedly clever remark the super soldier had just made.

The whole thing had caught her off guard. She and Steve were, well, sometimes it was really hard to define exactly what they were. They had progressed from co-workers in their extremely dangerous profession to trusted partners and then friends and then two people who depended on each other were the nightmares and night sweats came calling. They knew more about each other than any one else ever had. They cared for each other and held each other and sometimes they slept in the same bed when things were rough. But how far was that going?

Nat had to admit one thing. If nothing else she had the hots for Steve Rogers. But who wouldn't? Lean body with sculpted muscles just bursting with strength and stamina. Pretty good looking in the face too.

The thing was she admitted to herself is that Steve simply wasn't the type for casual sex. He had admitted he wasn't a virgin but she knew perfectly well it probably didn't go much past a single time. He needed much more than most, hell, any of the men she had ever been with. More than even Clint. They had been close but their relationship was more of a "friends with benefits" type thing. Steve would want it all; the house with the white picket fence, kids, a dog, everything. That was silly. Wasn't it? Not in their line of work. But sometimes at night she didn't have nightmares. She had dreams. And when she saw that house there was a boy who looked like Steve and a little girl that was the spitting image of her.

Okay. She had time to figure it all out. Steve wasn't going anywhere. Right? He cared for her and she loved it. Well, she shied away from the word "love". Oh God why was she so confused by all this? She hadn't been confused about anything in years.

So it just sort of stayed the same. Until earlier this day when Thor appeared at Stark Tower. That was fine. She admired and liked the demi-god. But when someone followed him in and every male eye in the place bugged out she got a little concerned.

"My friends, this is Lady Sif of Asgard, one of my oldest and dearest friends and a warrior in her own right worthy to stand beside in any battle."

Normally someone introduced like that, female or not, would look like a muscle-bound beast, rather like the troll Olaf in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and with just as much sex appeal. NOT as a tall beautiful woman in silver armor. Even the long sword slung over her shoulder added to her appeal. It was NOT fair.

Okay she was being silly. And "Silly" was a word that no one ever applied to her. Besides Sif seemed really nice. She had seen footage of Sif tackling the Destroyer and Sif mentioned she had seen, somehow, parts of the battle of New York and Nat's role in it so they were properly appreciative of each other's skills. They spent a good bit of time talking, mostly about each of them being the only woman in a group of men and unusual men at that. They both agreed their male companions were good guys, ready to accept them as "one of the guys", a full member of their respective groups but it DID occasionally get tiresome.

So things were all fine. Tony proposed a party. Pepper immediately took the plan over to fit her ideas of what a welcoming party should be for a woman, and an Asgardian one at that, rather than Tony's which generally revolved around too much to drink. And like most events arranged by Pepper it was very nice. There was food, music and drink in moderation. Besides the Avengers some of their former SHIELD colleagues, the ones they were sure could be trusted, were present. She was chatting with Maria Hill when a hush fell over the room. She turned.

Thor was ushering Sif in to the room. Instead of armor the lovely Asgardian was wearing a long sleeveless dress of white, gold and silver material gathered together at the waist and falling to her ankles. A gasp from Tony was repeated painfully when a carefully guided elbow of Pepper's met his midsection.

"My friends," Thor boomed proudly. "Allow me to introduce my oldest and dearest friend, the Lady Sif of Asgard!"

There was a rush from pretty much the entire male attendance to surround Sif. Maria and Nat exchanged shrugs and resumed their conversation.

As the evening wore on Natasha began to notice something that she didn't care for very much. She kept looking around for Steve and it seemed that every time she spotted him Sif was standing close to him. Very close to him in fact. Close enough that she when she touched him, and she seemed to be touching him quite a lot, that the gesture somehow seemed intimate. And it all was upsetting Natasha Romanoff like nothing she could recall.

The final straw was when Sif slipped her arm through Steve's and the pair began to walk. When Natasha realized that the Asgardian was leading Steve toward the elevators and therefore somewhere else, somewhere private, somewhere they could be alone, her reserve cracked. Before she even knew it she was headed across the floor, her sights set on the pair and determination in her eyes.

She was right on top of them when the dark-haired woman noticed her.

"Oh Lady Natasha. How nice. I was just getting Captain Rogers to show me the balcony on the lower floor. I understand the view there is spectacular."

"I bet you were going to get Steve to show you something," Natasha thought viciously. Amazing herself she managed to rein in THAT impulse. Instead she smiled.

"Yes it is and I'm certain you would love it but I'm afraid I'm going to have to borrow the Captain for something very important." Suiting her actions to her words she deftly unhooked Steve's arm from Sif's, replacing it with her own. Before the Asgardian could do more than open her mouth to protest Pepper swooped down on them.

"Lady Sif! I've been looking for you. I'm sure you remember Agent Phil Coulson. He's here and asking for you." Still talking ninety miles an hour Pepper deftly led Sif away without letting the other woman get a word in edgewise. The two remaining stood perfectly still until the other two had disappeared into the crowd. Pepper's non-stop voice could still be heard. Finally Steve stirred and turned slightly.

"Nat are you alright?"

Natasha started to roll her eyes. She started to give Steve Rogers a piece of her mind about getting too close to tall gorgeous Asgardians. But the look of worry and concern in his eyes stopped all that. Instead she tugged his arm.

"Come on."

She didn't speak again until they were one floor down and out on the glass walled balcony.

"Nat?"

Now that she had acted Natasha found that for the first time in a VERY long time she was tongue-tied. She knew what she wanted to tell him but had no idea how to do it. Twice she opened her mouth and nothing came out. Finally her shoulders slumped in defeat and she shook her head. She walked to the glass and looked out.

Steve stepped up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Nat. Tell me."

Almost angrily she brushed tears from her eyes. God she hadn't done that, not for real, in years and years.

"It's stupid," she muttered.

"No it's not. Not if whatever it is makes you this upset." He turned her, gently but firmly until she faced him, or would if she didn't keep her head lowered. He cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her head until he could look her in the eyes. "What? Nat you know whatever it is I'll..."

"I was jealous," she burst out suddenly.

"Jealous? Of who? Whom?"

Nat rolled her eyes. How could any man be this dense? "Jealous of that gorgeous woman who spent the entire night hitting on you!"

How could he possibly look puzzled? But he did.

"Sif? Goodness Nat why in the world would you be jealous of her?"

Damn he was denser than she thought sometimes. "Hello! Tall astoundingly lovely Asgardian woman Forget Xena; Sif actually IS a warrior goddess. She was beautiful in armor earlier and in that dress tonight she was the most stunning thing I've ever seen. And she was all over you! How could you not notice?"

It took a moment. She didn't know what the sound was. Then she realized he was trying to swallow a laugh. She would have pulled away but he wrapped her up in his arms and tucked her head under his chin. Where she fit just perfectly she noted.

"Because Nat. Because she's not you."

"Not me?" She looked up, this time of her own accord.

"Not you," he said firmly. "You're the only one I want Nat. Natasha Romanoff."

Nat swallowed. She needed to say this above all. And they were words she had used a score of times before but had never meant them. This time she did. Would he believe her? Calm settled on her like a warm blanket. Of course he would. That's why the words were true.

"Steve?"

"Yes?"

"I love you.

He crushed her in his arms, lifting her lips to his. They had kissed before but it hadn't been like this. This kiss was deep, passionate and went on and on. When they finally came up for air he stroked her hair.

"I love you too."

(Later that same night)

"More champagne?"

"Please."

The outstretched glass was carefully topped off and the bottle returned to the table. Neither woman needed to move from their comfortable positions in heavily padded leather upholstery recliners with their feet up. Both could see the huge LCD screen that was still showing Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff locked together.

"This is very good," observed Sif as she studied her glass. "We have wine in Asgard and of course a very large supply of mead that near vanishes when the Warriors Three are around but nothing like this."

"It's perfect for celebrations," replied Pepper. "And for toasts."

Brown eyes met blue ones, both sets dancing with amusement. Sif lifted her glass.

"To Lady Pepper and her plan!"

"And to Lady Sif and her perfect execution of it!"

The two women touched glasses and drank.

Pepper sighed happily. "Thank you for all your help Sif. I have been watching Steve and Natasha dance around each other for months now."

Sif nodded. "Anyone could see how much they cared for each other."

"I know. Except THEM. Both of them kept protesting the other was just a friend; a dear friend that they relied on and went to when things got rough but still only friends. It's because of their pasts of course. Steve feels alone in a world he doesn't understand and he can't believe someone as beautiful as Natasha could possibly be interested in him. And she is so riddled with memories of evil things that were done to her and by her that she hasn't been able to really accept that someone like Steve; upright and honest and always on the side of good regardless of what the odds are, could know her and still care for her."

Pepper shook her head. "They think this and yet they have been turning to each other more and more recently. Everyone sees it although they think they're being so careful and clever about it. I was beginning to worry that they would never break down and tell each other how they really felt. Then you came for a visit and I saw the perfect opportunity. Who could resist a tall beautiful Asgardian or fail to be crazy jealous when she is seen with the man another woman loves but can't make herself admit it? Not Natasha."

"You give me too much credit my friend," Sif objected. "Captain Rogers was very polite and well-mannered yet I doubt that I turned his head at all. He spent the entire night looking for Lady Natasha and he was not comfortable when he didn't know where she was. In fact he was uncomfortable with how close I kept standing to him and touching him but he's much too polite to voice his obvious objections."

"You saw that but I promise you that Natasha didn't," returned Pepper with a smile. "All she saw was someone who appeared to be moving in on her man and she reacted accordingly. It gave her the push she needed to take the last step. And she did."

"I am glad," Sif said with just a hint of wistfulness in her voice and in her eyes. "Regardless of what all they have lived through before I believe that together they will be able to face anything at all."

"And be happy." Pepper held out her glass again.

"And be happy." Sif tapped her glass to Pepper's again and the two women drank to a mission accomplished.

(The End)


End file.
